Our Thursday lunchtime talks are back! Thursday February 9th sees Honorary Professor Penny Olsen briefly trace the 300-year history of Australian bird art — from the crude engravings illustrating accounts of the earliest European voyages of discovery to the diversity of artwork available today. Dr Heide Zimmer will be back March 16th to talk about Norfolk Island orchids. The Friends Calendar www.friendsanbg.org.au/calendar has information on all talks through until the 20th April.

Talks are held in the ANBG Theatrette from 12:30 to 1:30 each Thursday. We welcome gold coins donations. It is a good idea to reserve a seat at the talks you wish to attend. The booking link is included in the calendar entry for that talk.

The Gardens and the Friends held a joint volunteer recognition ceremony on 29 November on the new Friends Lawn.

The ceremony is held annually to acknowledge the important contribution volunteers make to the work of the Gardens and the activities of the Friends.

After brief speeches by Anthony Whalen, Acting Executive Director of the ANBG, and Neville Page, President of the Friends, we heard from special guest speaker Ariah Holmes. Ariah is the  Membership, Training & Capabilities Coordinator, with Volunteering ACT, and currently works with over 200 organisations to build healthy, safe, and sustainable volunteering programs. She is passionate about inclusive volunteering and supporting the wellbeing of volunteers in creative ways.

Ariah presented awards to participants in Gardens volunteer programs, including a plaque to recognise a remarkable 30 years of volunteer work by Doreen Wilson. Neville presented awards to volunteers in Friends activities and special-interest groups.